When should I "hire" someone?

c299432c · ‎04-21-2020

Hello, I have difficulty understanding how the transition from invitation to payment happens. I have posted a job and received several invitations from freelancers. I have chatted with some of them, one of them said he is ready to start. When should I click "Hire"? If I do, is it a binding agreement, so I couldn't cancel the agreement? Should I wait for someone to demonstrate a part of what he can do, before I hire? What if at the end of the project, I am not satisfied with the result?
Thank you!

prestonhunter · ‎04-21-2020

You should click the hire button when you want the freelancer to do any work on your behalf.

You should NOT wait until they have done part of the job. That is asking the freelancer to work for free, which is a violation of Upwork TOS.

You seem worried about being able cancel the contract. Don't worry about that! Clients can cancel a contract any time, for any reason. Or for no reason at all. You never need to justify your reasons.

re: "What if at the end of the project, I am not satisfied with the result?"

Then you may leave accurate feedback which reflects your experience and your lack of satisfaction. Also, if you weren't satisfied, I strongly recommend that you never hire that freelancer again.

My general recommendation is to regularly check out the work the freelancer is doing , especially early on, and don't be afraid to close contracts on freelancers whose work you don't highly value.

c299432c · ‎04-21-2020

Stupid question - how to check out the work the freelancer is doing? Should I ask him for some samples and so on?

robin_hyman · ‎04-21-2020

Vasileios B wrote:
Stupid question - how to check out the work the freelancer is doing? Should I ask him for some samples and so on?

Not a stupid question. Openly communicate with the freelancer. Make sure he understands your expectations (ex: I would like to see the first draft by Friday to make sure we are on the same page). I offer to do this all the time for my new clients.

prestonhunter · ‎04-21-2020

It is not a stupid question.

BEFORE you hire a freelancer, you should look at their portfolio.

AFTER you hire a freelancer, you should require them to send their work to you on a regular basis.

I will be straight-up honest with you about something:

A lot of Upwork clients won't even consider a freelancer who does not post a portfolio.

No portfolio? You can just skip that freelancer. Don't even talk to them.

And I know that many clients hire freelancers based only (or almost entirely) on the freelancer's portfolio and/or samples that the freelancer sends along with their job proposal.

I don't think a client should ever have to ask for samples. A client should be able to look at the samples that are already available.

PERSONALLY:
Whenever I am hired by a client, I set up a private server, and I send the client the root credentials for it. And I do all my work on that server. So the client has continuous access to everything I do on the project. The client is able to look at the work any time she wants to. She is able to copy the files away to her own server any time that she wants to.

I am not saying that EVERY freelancer needs to work this way. But any client who wants to be careful about their time and money will need to have the work turned in on a regular basis. Maybe even every day. (Or every day that the freelancer actually works on it.)

As a client, you (or your project manager) should look at the work that all of your freelancers are doing, and you should evaluate who is doing great work, who is doing mediocre work, and who is doing terrible work.

Quickly fire the freelancers who are doing terrible work or mediocre work. Only continue working with the best freelancers on your team.

re: "Should I ask him for some samples and so on?"

The work doesn't belong to the freelancer. When a client pays for work on Upwork, the work belongs to the client. So it is not really a freelancer's "choice" to send you samples or part of the work or all of the work. The freelancer should send you work whenever you want it. Every decent freelancer that I know WANTS to deliver her work to the client. Freelancers want you to have it and use it and be pleased with it.

BojanS · ‎04-21-2020

Hi Vasileios,

Please check this help article for more information about interviewing and negotiating with Freelancers.

Also, check out some of the great articles about Interview Questions to Find the Perfect Freelancer and How to Choose and Interview the Right Freelancer for Your Project.

You can check some helpful resources to give you an idea about how to get started as a client.

Let us know if you need any further assistance.

Thank you.

~ Bojan